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| adventurers gather by the fire |
A week of activity! We had planned a lively week to coincide
with National Family Week - but then that was cancelled but our events went
ahead anyway!
In the last few days, we've
had swarms of people out looking for Faeries, Trolls and Goblins in Padley Gorge near Hathersage. That was such a
magical and perilous time that photos will follow later when we have determined
that they are safe from spells and that to look at them will not risk
enchantment and having all of you turned into frogs (not necessarily a bad
thing, I hasten to say, but we have to observe some proprieties)
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| a fire for burning biscuits |
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| making baskets |
Wednesday was flooded. The
woods where we hoped to go Into the Woods were waterfalls, and rivulets and our heroic artists
dripped within minutes. Visitors had more sense and stayed at home. We
surrendered the day to the rain and its thunder
 |
cooperation helps when
building dens |
But to-day people gathered to
Run Away to Adventure and
in Grinlow Woods we heard the tale of the dragon who, after killing the crabs,
chased the girls who had been looking in rockpools off the beach and into the woods where they built a
den that was so well-hidden no dragon could see it.
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| a tiny lamp lights a small corner |
Then there were the family
who were on a holiday sailing down the Nile when their boat was overturned and
abandoned by search parties, they made a camp on the banks of the river.
Braving crocodiles and hippos, they caught fish in the river and made friends
with local people
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| moss for pillows |
The stories span on,
watchtowers on the heights, the nutriritonal value of toasted biscuits, a
branch polished smooth and pale that looked suspiciously like a giant's
thigh-bone, baskets to collect fruit in, the best ways of cooking rabbits
(especially oens made of moss and bark!), wet clay lamps to light the dark,
wild nights, the relative merits of logs and bracken as bedding,…….
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all modern conveniences,
even a basin for washing.... |
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| on the banks of the Nile (use your imagination!) |
Books we used
Places we went to for ideas
in planning these sessions
Into the Woods:
TH White, The Sword in the
Stone
East, Maddern & Marks,
The Spirit of the Forest
Julia Donaldson, The Gruffalo
Jane Gifford, The Wisdom of
Trees
JRR Tolkien, Lord of the
Rings
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| Dragon Girl tells her tale |
Run Away To Adventure
BB, Brendon Chase
JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit
Michael Morpurgo, Kensuke's
Kingdom
Ray Mears, Essential
Bushcraft
Scott O'Dell, Island of the
Blue Dolphins
Swiss Family Robinson
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
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| watchers on the hilltop |
